» First stop, Milwaukee:
Cubans make first U.S. stop
Ars Longa de la Habana, an early music group from Cuba, makes Milwaukee the first stop in its first trip to America.
Ars Longa de la Habana, an early music group from Cuba, has performed extensively in Europe and Latin America but never traveled to the country located just 90 miles from the Caribbean island.
So when the musicians and singers booked their first trip to America, they didn’t go to Miami first, or New York or Los Angeles. They came to Milwaukee.
As relations between America and Cuba continue to thaw, the borders of the two formerly antagonistic countries have opened to allow more arts groups from Cuba to travel to the U.S. And Milwaukee audiences were the beneficiary as Ars Longa de la Habana played several concerts over the weekend.
“It’s important that Americans know about this music,” said Teresa Paz, a soprano and co-founder of the group. Most Americans “only think of salsa. But we have a lot of classical musicians” in Cuba.
Ars Longa de la Habana’s music spotlights the African influence in Baroque music, particularly the work of Cuban composers in the 17th and 18th centuries. Six singers are accompanied by musicians playing early music instruments including chamber organ, the trombone-like sacabuche, a type of oboe called chirimias, a bassoon-like bajon, a type of recorder called flautas dulces, and the predecessor of today’s cello, the viola da gamba.
Sunday morning they performed before, during and after Mass at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Milwaukee, their beautiful voices echoing throughout the church.
Paz started the group 22 years ago with her guitarist husband to bring the centuries-old music of her homeland, which was influenced by African slaves, Spaniards and Portuguese, to a wider audience. In Milwaukee, those audiences included middle and high school students, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee students, early music lovers and the congregation at St. John the Evangelist. Ticket sales were brisk.
“Maybe the Latin American music isn’t too common here (in Milwaukee). To bring it here is very important to us,” Paz said.
Yunie Gainza Desdin, a countertenor for a dozen years in Ars Longa de la Habana, enjoyed working with students in Milwaukee.
“One of the main purposes of the group is to spread our work like seeds,” Desdin said. “I have only hope that good things will happen between our governments with transparency and respect for everyone and every type of work.”
Hosted by Early Music Now in Milwaukee, the ensemble stayed with host families, and though they were very busy with concerts, some found time to visit the lakefront, walk around outside the Milwaukee Art Museum and visit the Milwaukee County Zoo. Desdin said they braced for Milwaukee’s cold February temperatures, but apparently the musicians packed Cuba’s warm weather in their instrument cases and brought it with them.
“We expected the weather to be cold. But we expected the people to be warm,” Desdin said.
Early Music Now Executive and Artistic Director Charles Q. Sullivan said one of the ensemble members had difficulty with an American visa but the problem was settled shortly before arrival.
“I was concerned even up to the day they arrived that our chaotic government would throw a wrench,” Sullivan said.
The group is traveling to New York next, followed by Miami. Judging by the enthusiastic welcome, Sullivan said Early Music Now would like to bring Ars Longa de la Habana back to Milwaukee.